Study of the soil properties and bacterial community of mud dauber nest

Abstract

Traditionally, extracts of mud dauber nest are used to treat digestive problem and various ailments. The current study deals with the analysis of physico-chemical composition of the nest soil and isolation of bacteria that have potential biochemical and therapeutic importance. Four nest samples of black and yellow mud dauber wasp were collected. The physico-chemical analysis yields the following results- pH 6.64, electrical conductivity 0.05 dS/m and organic carbon 0.59%. Among the macronutrients and micronutrients, higher content of potassium (430.08 kg/ha) and manganese (1251.67 ppm) were found respectively. Bacterial populations were isolated by serial dilution. Out of seven colonies, three well-defined colonies (IK1, IK2, and IK3) were sub-cultured and characterized. Biochemical analysis showed IK1 were positive for catalase, citrate and starch hydrolysis test, IK2 were positive for catalase and motility test while IK3 showed positive result for macconkey agar, catalase and motility test. The antibiotic sensitivity test showed that IK1 were sensitive to tetracycline and kanamycin while IK2 and IK3 were sensitive to kanamycin. In order to identify the antimicrobial factor present in these bacterial isolates further studies are needed.